No proof $44,000 was drug-related

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Savas Pastras's face was positively rosy yesterday after a magistrate cleared him of one count of possessing the proceeds of crime.

It was in stark contrast to the deathly white pallor he wore after stumbling into the middle of a raid on the home of crime figure Lewis Moran with $44,000 stuffed inside his jacket.

Magistrate Ann Collins yesterday cleared Mr Pastras in the Broadmeadows Magistrates Court after finding that police could not prove that the money, stashed in a green plastic shopping bag, had anything to do with the sale of drugs.

She also found that police could not prove that traces of heroin and cocaine found on the cash did not come from other sources.

The court heard that Mr Pastras, 37, of Brunswick, had visited Moran's home on October 25, 2002, while members of the major drug investigative division were conducting a raid.

Police discovered 10 bundles of notes totalling $44,000 tucked between his jacket and T-shirt. They charged Mr Pastras with one count of possessing the proceeds of crime.

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The court heard Mr Pastras's face turned white after he realised that he had walked into the raid. One detective said Mr Pastras began to shake.

Yesterday, Mr Pastras managed just a few words outside the court.

"Never guilty, never guilty, that's all I've got to say," he said.

Mr Pastras's lawyer, Stephen Shirrefs, SC, said outside the court that Ms Collins had made the right decision.